Dec 24, 2011

Robin and Kermit on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Lisa Alexander - Merry Christmas, everybody! Or Christmas Eve, anyway, which is close enough. Lisa the Intern here to celebrate the utterly adorable present we got from the Muppets and Jimmy Fallon last night: Kermit, Robin, and Jimmy singing "When the River Meets the Sea."

If you haven't seen it, you need to. But maybe don't watch it until you've finished reading, because otherwise you'll be melted into a puddle of goop and won't be able to read. (Yes, I'm biased. Robin has always been my favorite. But that's beside the point.)

Now, the first thing you may notice about this appearance is that Robin's voice is a only slightly off. That's to be expected, what with Matt Vogel trying to do a VERY Jerry Nelson voice, and I really don't mind it at all. Matt's doing his best (and it's pretty darn good), and the characterization is SPOT ON, which is what really matters. And Robin hasn't spoken in a very long time, and I'm really too happy to have him back to really be overly nit-picky. (But mostly, the perfect characterization makes up for anything.)

The second thing you may notice about this appearance is that IT EXISTS! Kermit the Frog and ROBIN--note, one of the more MINOR characters--is singing a song with Jimmy Fallon on a late night talk show in 2011. I had such a hard time believing it that I keep making the same typo and trying to say that this is happening in 2001. There is no doubt in my mind that Jimmy Fallon himself had a huge hand in making this happen, and not just because it's his own show. He could have easily said, "Hey, let's get some Muppets here and sing something!" because we all know he loves the Muppets. But I suspect he specifically requested to sing "When the River Meets the Sea" with Kermit and Robin. Or, also likely, he requested to sing with Robin, and Disney said, "Well... nobody knows who Robin is. Mind if we send Kermit, too?"

My reason for suspecting he specifically requested Robin? Well, as he explained last night, he's always loved the album the Muppets did with John Denver. (Remember when he sang "Twelve Days of Christmas" with them, based entirely on the rendition they did with John Denver?) And when The Roots started to play "When the River Meets the Sea," he immediately told Kermit it's his favorite. Add those to the obvious fact that Jimmy Fallon knows who Robin is: when they sang "Twelve Days of Christmas," Robin sat on Jimmy's shoulder. (Have I mentioned I'm incredibly jealous of Jimmy?) Earlier in the week, when telling the audience who would be appearing on upcoming episodes of his show, Jimmy was trying to explain who Robin is. "Robin, you know--the little guy?" he said, holding his hands out to indicate Robin's approximate size, clearly excited that he would be performing with "the little guy." (Like I said... I'm SO jealous.)

As I mentioned, Robin's characterization was perfect. Matt may not have the voice quite down yet, but he clearly knows Robin's personality perfectly. He's five years old and RIDICULOUSLY excited for Christmas, imitating his uncle's signature "YAY" in celebration of the fact. Twice. And his scarf is adorable. He's also incredibly excited to perform and sing, and trying his best to be just as professional about it as his uncle: note his "Thank you" when Kermit compliments him on the first line.

And that reminds me--Kermit was great last night, too, clearly bursting with pride for his little nephew. And, y'know, his voice and characterization were great and all that other stuff we all know Steve Whitmire is perfectly capable of doing again and again. We all love Kermit. And Kermit loves Robin. And Lisa the Intern is very, very happy, to put it mildly. I lost track of how many times I watched this clip last night.